State hunts STAR double dippers

Multiple exemptions possible in STAR property tax break plan

Updated 8:23 am, Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Photo: Cindy Schultz

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Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance speaks during the joint budget hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union) less

Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance speaks during the joint budget hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times ... more

Photo: Cindy Schultz

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Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, left, puts a question to Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, not pictured, during the joint budget hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. At right is Herman D. Farrell Jr., Ways and Means chairman. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union) less

Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, left, puts a question to Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, not pictured, during the joint budget hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 12, ... more

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants his tax officials to take a "look-back" at the state's STAR school tax break program to weed out double dippers.

The project, proposed in the governor's 2013-2014 budget, would also force New Yorkers to once again sign up for the popular property tax break next year.

"This is new ground," state Tax Commissioner Thomas Mattox said Tuesday following a hearing before legislators in which he laid out the look-back plan.

STAR provides more than $3 billion a year in school tax relief to homeowners across the state by exempting a portion of a dwelling's assessed value. While popular with hard-pressed homeowners, state and local officials have long worried that some abuse the system by claiming multiple exemptions.

The assessment reduction is supposed to apply solely to a primary residence, but there is little way of telling if a person has homes in different locations and is claiming two exemptions. To fix that, Mattox said the agency wants to review a decade's worth of exemptions.

Currently, taxpayers register for STAR one time with their local assessors, but the new protocol would require that they sign up with the state Tax Department. Mattox said they would launch a campaign, using mail and phone calls, to remind people to register.

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But lawmakers said they feared thousands of homeowners wouldn't get the message and would be stuck with higher tax bills.

"For people to have to sign up again, it's going to be a very interesting and difficult process," said Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, a member of the chamber's Tax Committee. "We should be catching the people who are doing the wrong thing, but at the same time we could be dismissing people who would be getting benefit."

"That will be burdensome if people do forget," added Albany Democratic Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy.

There are other potential problems with the look-back, said Tom Frey, executive director of the state Assessors Association.

He said assessors generally keep records going back six years, which would make a 10-year review difficult to accurately carry out.

Frey noted the state Tax Department would have to gear up to handle the list of exemption holders. "It becomes the only exemption that all of a sudden the state is in charge of, instead of the assessors," he said.

Additionally, the proposal would make the state, rather than local assessors, the arbiter of whether someone is double dipping and should lose an exemption.

Also on tap, Mattox said, is a plan to suspend driver's licenses of those who owe more than $10,000 in taxes and haven't made efforts to settle their bills. There are about 9,000 motorists in the category, he said.

Lawmakers asked Mattox about the suspension plan and the governor's new Tax Reform and Fairness Commission. They said they didn't know the panel had already held an organizational meeting.

Mattox said he believed the commission was exempt from the state's open meetings laws.